Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Muslim spiritual leaders change their mind about proposed project at Ground Zero site...

World Trade Center aerial view March 2001Image via Wikipedia


BREAKING NEWS

08:54

Soldier with Facebook pictures with bound Palestinians defends pictures (Army Radio)08:37 Central Baghdad suicide bombing kills at least 7 people, wounds 21 (Reuters)

08:16 Police: We still cannot say if document in Galant affair is forged or not (Army Radio)

07:37 IDF arrests eight wanted Palestinians overnight in the West Bank (Ch.10)

07:10 Prime Minister Netanyahu to meet senior Greek officials in Athens (Army Radio)

05:49 Man sentenced in New York to 2.5 years in jail for violating Iran trade embargo (AP)

04:51 Suspected al-Qaida militants kill Yemen intelligence officer (Reuters)

04:01 U.S. Senate majority leader Harry Reid opposes Ground Zero mosque (Reuters)

03:43 Study: New dads secrete hormones that strengthens bond with infants (Haaretz)

03:22 Ground Zero mosque backers vow to press ahead with their plans (Reuters)

02:35 U.S. plans to open diplomatic offices in four more Iraqi cities (Reuters)

01:57 Rightist group threatens boycott of Ben Gurion University over 'anti-Zionist' bias (Haaretz)

01:23 Court grants compensation to residents near Ben Gurion Airport for noise (Haaretz)

00:43 Report: Women's flotilla to depart Lebanon for Gaza this week (Army Radio)

00:37

40-year-old man moderately hurt in hit-and-run accident near Ashkelon (Ch. 10)More Breaking News > HomeNewsInternationalPublished 20:32 16.08.10

Latest update 20:32 16.08.10

Muslim leaders to abandon plans for Ground Zero community center

Insiders say Muslim spiritual leaders behind the controversial initiative are considering giving up on the former World Trade Center location, in a gesture of appeasement.

By Shlomo Shamir

Tags: Israel news

After weeks of heated debate over plans for an Islamic community center near Ground Zero - the site of the 9/11 attacks on New York - it seems Muslim leaders will soon back down, agreeing to move to a new site.



The decision follows a high-profile campaign against the project that included advertisements on New York buses showing images of the burning Twin Towers, an iconic landmark razed when al-Qaida terrorists flew packed passenger planes into them in 2001. The New York Republican party is also said to be planning a hostile television campaign.





Sources in New York said on Monday that Muslim religious and business leaders will announce plans to abandon the project in the next few days.



New York Governor David Patterson said last weekend that Muslim leaders had rejected outright his proposal tto swap the site in for another in Manhattan.



But several people familiar with the debate among New York's Islamic activists now claim that the leaders are convinced abandoning the site is preferable to unleashing a wave of bitterness towards Muslims.



They also hope the move will be seen as a show of sensitivity to families of the victims of the 9/11 attacks, and to the American public generally.



Another factor in the apparent climbdown is a lack of funds to pay for construction of the center, estimated to cost a hundred million dollars. Backers hope moving it will lead to a wave of support, accompanied by cash donations.



It is also possible that the decision was also influenced by comments made by U.S. President Barack Obama on Sunday, in which he appeared to reverse an earlier show of support.



Obama said that when he went on record backing the center, he meant only that it was the right of every religious group to establish its own places of worship – but he did not intend to justify building the center specifically at Ground Zero.

http://haaretz.com/


Enhanced by Zemanta

No comments: